It’s a scam - HomeAdvisor

This complaint is against A company homeadvisor,inc. The only number I have is on My bank Statement. It is 877-947-3639.

I am a painting contractor doing business as Minkler Enterprises. I received a call from this company. They told me they would send me leads for a predetermined price for me to call. I was told the sooner I called the better response I would get. I did as directed and got no answers but (1). I called on 2-7-2013 to cancel this service. I left a message with the person (Leland) who had called me originally called being as this was the only number I was given. I got no response as far as a call back or anything else.

In the meantime the leads kept coming and I kept getting charged. I called other times when I would get an unrequested lead as I was getting charged for these. Finally I figured A way to get to someone other than Leland and hopefully got the service cancelled. At that time I told The person i was talking to I would be disputing these charges with my bank.

This was 3-5-2013.

I went directly to my bank to dispute these charges.The person I was dealing with got me on the phone with the complaint department. This person said she would call the number on My bank statement and see if we could resolve it there. She did this as a 3 way call.The person she talked to said he could not give information with out my authorization. At that time I made him aware I was on the line too. At that time you could hear him yelling hello, hello and then he disconnected (hung up). The bank said they would credit my account until this was resolved saying it could take up to 90 days.

For HomeAdvisor Representatives or Owners

Comments About HomeAdvisor Review: It’s a scam

John Bodonni

Their “Preferred Plumber” Cass Plumbing quoted 3 times the price that an Angies list plumber did the work for. When I wrote a review on http://www.homeadvisor.com to warn others, http://www.homeadvisor.com did not publish my review, and never informed me that they did not publish my review.

Bert Wilson

I am a radon measurement tech. I was assured I would get more leads if I signed up. After awhile of no leads I called to cancel. Their rep assured me that all charges would be erased. A week ago I got a notice that I owed them $130 and would be sent to collections if I did not pay. I called the company and was told they could not cancel the $130. I paid up after much complaining just to get rid of them. I got no leads from them. They just ripped me off.

M Gifford

I had someone call “to confirm the appointment” when no appointment had been made. Another highly rated person was clearly dishonest, changing prices as he went, and selling me services I did not need. My tactfully worded review to home advisor went unlisted, I had hoped to alert people using this company to simply check that the written estimate was the same as the estimate they received when someone came to their home. I would not advise the use of this site.

Sam

Home Advisor is a company of conniving and deceitful employees, which is a reflection upon whoever or whomever is running that fukin scam. A couple or more idiots employed there had set up appointments without notifying me beforehand and I was charged on my credit card. After those lying and thieving little bastards attempted to continue their bullshit, I had a hold put on the card to stop them from adding any more charges to it. I had also noticed that whoever created my profile did not do it according to what my services provided. So I had a bunch of unknowing perspective customers calling for getting their grass cut when that is a far cry from doing what I do. To add to that, they or whoever, stuck a bunch of stars on it making it look like a fishing lure, and created some bullshit references. None of it was True, I am not a liar or thief so I called to cancel the contract because of their dishonest and deceitful practices, and told them I would not pay them any more money nor would they receive any more money from me. Of course I didn’t get to talk to the head chief s******d in charge. It was some little squirrel that was working for them and she was just another member, employee or whatever it is that company calls them. The latest news is that some collection agency out of Pennsylvania is sending notices, so I called and told those retards that Home Advisor is not going to get any money nor is that so called debt collection agency which goes by the handle of CMI Credit Mediators. They’re fukin scams also. They’re all frauds, liars and thieves, and will surely reap what they have sown.

Honest Commenter

I just took a contractor to small claims court for violating the federal Do Not Call list and spoofing phone numbers. His defense was he doesn’t do telemarketing. He gets my information from Home Advisor. I never filled out any forms online but I get lots of calls asking if I have any remodeling work to be done. This must be how Home Advisor gets its leads. Be warned contractors. If you pay Home Advisor to make telemarketing call then they are your agent and you become responsible for the penalties and fines.

John Patrick

I own a full service HVAC Company in the Midwest. We are a smaller company. I have been with HomeAdvisors since October, 2015. Lately they have been a disappointment. I call leads back immediately. The first 6 weeks were great. I received 10 leads and did business with 5 of them. The last month has been terrible. I have received over 10 leads and did business with 2. Three of the leads told me that they were just looking for prices and didn’t need any kind of service at the present time. Another one told me he hired someone 15 minutes before I called. I literally called the lead within a minute from receiving his info from HA. I had a guy asking me if he could buy a part from me. I told him I cannot sell him parts over the counter, it’s a liability. However, I’d be more than happy to come and fix it for him. He would be getting a licensed and insured contractor with 20 years of experience to fix it for him and the part would be under warranty for a year. He refused because he only wanted the part. He said “I’m handy and can fix it myself”. In other words NOT A LEAD! Then there were 2 that never picked up the phone and never responded to my email. How are these leads, when you can’t even talk to them? The only way you receive credit for a bad lead is if 1.The lead doesn’t own the home. 2.They’re not located in a area that you service or 3. The phone number AND email the lead provided are wrong. I have gained 14 paying customers from Craigslist in 3 months time and they were completely FREE! I posted in a local church bulletin which cost me $60 for 3 months and I gained 10 customers from them, not including referrals. I have gained 7 customers from my Facebook page created a month ago for FREE. If you do your research, you can find multiple ways to get your name out there for very little money or no money at all. If you do quality work and you’re honest, word of mouth will spread.

i8some1

All of these services are shjt. But since they do not charge the homeowner they don’t know any better. They’re like phone book that charges you everytime a homeowner picks up the book. Vetting their contractors is a joke. 120 second phone interview, ” oh you’ve been doing it for 10 years, obviously a pro, you’re good to go “. The only way they know if you any good or not is if they get complaints. So in reality they are of no better service to the homeowner than the contractor. All they are concerned about is selling leads to the contractors as fast as they can. They don’t care if the contractor is any good or not, or is illegal, or anything else as they are hold-harmless. And with their phone apps it becomes literally a race of time in order to be within the 5 bid window that will close in 1-2 minutes. But you still have to pay to even get in that race. These people are like an employment company in the days of old. No guarantee for work, no accountability, no charge to the employers using them, but -you- pay up front. They’re all shjt, alway were, always will be. I just wish consumers would wise up.

Service Air Eastern Shore, Inc

We are a very busy HVAC company that gets excellent results from using Home Advisor. We pay an average of $45 per lead. Some pan out some don’t. Most of the homeowners are looking to replace their systems so the leads that pan out turn into major jobs for us. The key is to call immediately. We have text notification and email notification that are received by three of us in the company and we all call at the same time to get through. Yes, this means 2:00 in the morning sometimes. We get many calls late at night when people are surfing the web and if we jump on those calls we get the consumers business. There are months that we spend in excess of $500 for these leads but they are well worth the money.

66readerwriter

Glad I found this site. I’m a consumer and I don’t want to be pounced upon by and pressured by contractors. I wanted to find a list of names I could contact on my own and compare bids. Seems this service won’t suit my needs.

All American Purification

We are a Water Softener/Filtration Company on the West Coast of Florida and have been using HomeAdvisor for approximately 3 years now. On the average we spend about $1500 a year on leads. Some leads are in the $7.00 range and some (direct connect leads) can go up to $25.00. The secret, if there is one, is to jump on the phone as soon as you see the lead come in and get an appointment. If you snooze you lose! It also helps to have one than one person receiving leads for your company. We have 4 people who see the lead as soon as it hits. Sometime the prospective client will get 2 phone calls from us, but they know we are serious about their problems. So, for the $1500 a year we spend on leads, we profit about $10K – all from HomeAdvisor. Also, tell your prospective clients not to use HomeAdvisor to “RECONTACT YOU!” If they do, it will be another lead charge to you. And, you can control the lead flow in the Pro Control Panel. You can shut them right down! Hope this help!

Alfred

Signed up a few weeks ago. 8 leads, able to contact 7. Results so far: 5 customers, 1 pending appointment, 1 who wanted more extensive work than I do (I had to politely take a pass), 1 never got back to me (I made the effort). This to me is a good percentage.

I only need this in the winter months, which I made clear when I signed up. Hopefully there won’t be any difficulty when I cancel in a couple of months. If it continues going well and I need the leads next winter I’ll sign up again.

For me, their market analysis info was very good. Targeting a specific geographic area with my input was also helpful.

So far, so good.

Vegas stung

I, too, got suckered in when I signed up our business. The first lead came the next day….for another state. They contacted me by phone as I was attempting to find a means of reaching them, as their system won’t put a contractor through without an account number (which took me 30 days to get). I told the man of their error; he said it would be credited back and gave us five (5) free leads if we would give them another chance. Then leads would come as late as 3 hrs after the party requested service and, naturally, another company already got the work. I finally got my bill. The first charge shown was dated by them on Nov 5th–we didn’t sign up until Nov 13th! I e-mailed them on Dec 15th at 8:19AM and said to cease everything. They sent three additional leads after that–two the following day. Not only was I billed for them, they also billed me on Dec 19th for the five free leads. I requested they send me an e-mail itemizing these charges as I refuse to discuss anything further over the phone with them. No response. I’ve contacted my credit company and asked them to do a charge-back, but am out the $80.99 charge for three months of advertising, of which they notified me–also on Dec 19th–that they supposedly have done something. I doubt it.

Wanda537

No matter what I’m looking for at HomeAdvisor I always get Sears even after I specifically said anyone but sears. I wound up paying Sears over inflated prices just to get it done.

jason

no inflated prices thats a lie

jim hallahan

I have used Home Advisor for up to three years. I DO have trouble with the amount of leads where the homeowners never answer and I will go so far as to go to the address and leave a card and letter of introduction. I also have issues with the number of homeowners who are Just window shopping as I do all estimates for free. But in the long run ,I sell on average six to seven jobs a year, small additions, basements and kitchen remodels. Just one job pays for a years worth of leads as I limit my leads to four a month. I might be changing my policy to a $25 fee for estimates to help defray the cost of the time spent and to weed out the browsers. Home Advisor cannot be held responsible for homeowners who are looking for over the phone estimates only or don’t realize what they are signing up for. I have had homeowners put down additions as the wrok requested only to find out they want a mailbox rehung. Not Home advisors fault

john

wow really. ok well im using homeadvisr for electrical services. yes some of the leads you get you don’t get a response. and some of the leads have already found a contractor. but if you call right away your more likely to get them. I get about 25% of jobs from the leads that are ssent to me. yes some of the leads ive got to pay for that don’t answer. but they are all potential jobs you have to make an effort for it to work in your favor. if you have bad customer service no one will work with you and you need to follow up on estimates you give out. ive been with homeadvisor for 3 months now and ive been getting ton of extra work from them. ive even had to pause the leads for a couple of weeks so I could keep up with the work. a lot of people post bad things about homeadvisor I just think they have poor customer service skills. or their prices are too high. that is all don’t suck so bad and maybe you can get work : )

WIld Wave

I am a consumer…. and just want to add.. maybe some calls aren’t bogus… always leave a message. I got 3 calls instantly, I was talking to one, one left a message, one didn’t. I returned the message call, and have 2 estimates scheduled.

H.L.N.

well;seems you didnt get’-it’….THE WHOLE IDEA OF THIS TOOL FOR ADVERTISING -IS TO SHUT OFF YOUR LEADS , ;WHEN YOU NEED TO >YOU CONTROL THIS;ALSO ITS IN YOUR PROFILE UNDER MANAGE LEADS , AND ACCOUNT’.

dkostyshak

These people have pestered us to sign on with them for at least 4 years now, We keep refusing and they keep calling…most recently at 6:45 THIS MORNING! I don’t blame anyone for trying to make a living, but these people are not to be trusted!

M. Clark

Do NOT purchase a Flexable Hose!! This company is a complete JOKE – should not be allowed to do business. The hoses leak and break like a balloon so beware!! If you call customer service, get ready to be put on hold for hours and if you are lucky enough to talk to a real person – be prepared because you won’t be able to understand them!! I’ve been fighting for my credit for 3 months now and I’m determined to get it!! I’ve made over 20 phone calls and was promised yesterday that I would receive my credit in 3 days. I’m not anticipating this will happen because obviously this company is a complete rip off!!! Don’t be fooled like I was.

Wanda537

To late for me, there’s already one on the way. Hope it’s as good as they say since it’s one of the new ones just coming out.

Ana

I am glad you posted this! I thought it was me but I brought three of them from different stores and they all lasted maybe a week! I was just hosing off the birdbath and one popped! Don’t buy the mighty hose nossel it doesn’t have any pressure at all like on tv. I have become a person that doesn’t believe anything on tv any more!!!!!!!!!!

Jonathon

Hello every one I am a Contractor and signed up to this site morning of 4/12/13 and they call me at 7:30 am that’s early. Also the suport guy said that he wanted my info of my bank account and SSN that is not right. I thought it was going to be ok but then later in the day they sent me a lead on a customer and when I called they did not answer: the first time they did not answer then the second time they answered and some how did not hear me then the third time did not answer. I also emailed them and did not get in contact with them so I was charged with $15.50 so a lead that did not go no where and was probably fake or old, I got charged so I will not work with these guys anymore. Its 2:00 am and I found out that this website (Home Adviser) is ripping people off with lots of money and have bad contractors that are not licensed. So the point is that these guys are fake and do not give them your information of any sort. To not get charged before the week is over cancel your bank account that you gave them and then you will not get charged with any sort of fees or anything. Please tell your contracting friends that this place is not good.

justin

so very miss informed you people are. dude every contractor on this site is checked for licenses.. and leads arent gaurnteed your to dumb to be using a service like this. thanks more leads fro the rest of us

John Patrick

“so very misinformed you people are.” Is that a Yoda impersonation? Then you call someone dumb after misspelling guaranteed. Using “your” when it should be you’re as in you are. Using “to dumb” when it should be too dumb. Then “thanks more leads fro the rest of us” should be Thanks, more leads for the rest of us. My advice to you; don’t call people dumb anymore.